Sentence Function

• Who/What Verb
• Who/what likes (green) bananas (out of those high trees)
  • The monkey likes bananas
  • The big monkey likes green bananas
  • The big monkey on the top of the rock likes green bananas out of those high trees
• Changing the subject from singular to plural changes the verb
  • The monkey likes bananas
  • The monkeys like bananas 
• The train reaches the platform.
  • What reaches the platform? The train
• Breakfast tastes better after a walk.
  • What tastes better after a walk? Breakfast
• The new hoover is broken.
  • What is broken? The new hoover

• John loves Mary
  • Who does John love? Mary
• What does the (big) monkey (on the top of the rock) like?
  • The monkey likes bananas
  • The big monkey likes green bananas
  • The big monkey on the top of the rock likes green bananas out of those high trees

Object or Subject? Using subject- verb agreement

The train reaches the platform

• We can use questions to check the subject:
  • What reaches the Platform? The train (S)
  • What does the train reach? The platform(O)
• We can use subject-verb agreement to check as well:
  • The train reaches the platforms.
  • The trains reach the platform

Some verbs require an indirect object.

• In their usual form these verbs need 2 objects
• The indirect object is some sort of ‘recipient’ or ‘beneficiary’ because it benefits from the action in the verb

•  I send a letter to my gran
  • What do I send? a letter (O)
  • Who am I sending a letter to? My gran (IO)
• I give him a bottle
  • What do I give him? A bottle (O)
  • Who do I give a bottle? Him (IO)
• I give to charity
  • What do I give to? Charity (IO) (money =O, implied)

 The complement is the answer to the ‘object’ question when there is a copular/linking verb*

• John is a fire man
• What is John ? A fire man
• John is (very) happy
• What is John ? (very) happy

The subject complement can be a Noun Phrase or an Adjective Phrase

*copular/linking verbs are most usually the verb “to be” (is/are etc.) but can also include verbs like “seem”, “feel” , “seem”, “appear”, “become” etc

• Verbs can change for person/tense
• Verbs can sometimes be accompanied by auxiliary verbs.
• Every sentence needs at least one verb. We don’t cover sentences with 2 (or more) main verbs yet (e.g. ’I like to swim’, ’I thought he was happy’)
• Some verbs can carry a preposition with them as part of their ‘core’ form, these are ‘phrasal verbs’. E.g.:
  • Looking for = searching: No use looking here for your glasses
  • Juice up = enliven: He always juices the party up a bit.
  • Cut down = reduce: I try to cut down on alcohol
  • Put up with = tolerate: She’s put up with it too long.

Adverbials answer the how, where, when type questions like Adverbs, but they can consist of more than one word. Sentences can have many Adverbials

• Yesterday John was in the garden
• Where was John? In the garden
• When was John in the garden? Yesterday

• He was walking so fast to the fridge.
• How was he walking to the fridge? So fast
• Where was he walking (to) so fast? To the fridge

• The monkey really likes bananas.
• How (much) does the monkey like bananas? Really(*)

• All simple declarative sentences have:

• Mandatory: 1 subject
• Mandatory: 1 verb (group) (aux V + main V count as 1 e.g. ‘is taking’ ‘can talk’ ‘could see’)
• Possibly: 1 object
• Possibly: 1 (subject) complement
• Possibly: 1 indirect object
• Possibly: many adverbials (adverbials sometimes can be placed before the subject e.g. ‘Today she goes to school) 

• Subject Verb               Who/what      V 
• S          V                     I, Karen     swim

• Subject Verb Object     Who/what       V          who/what  
• S          V       O                I               like           apples

• Subject Verb(cop) Compliment       Who/what         V           who/what
• S           V cop       C                       My name            is              Julia

                                                            I                       am            happy